Breaking The Habit
by Roguewrld
Summary: Week 2: Future fic. Hermione finds reference to an ancient selfdefense system, left behind by the Founders. If Harry can find it, they could move the cells guarding Hogwarts back to the front lines.


His combat boots clicked on the marble floor of the Chamber. He is Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived. Today, at 21, he is also the man who fights. He is a general in this army, his friends his lieutenants. Despite being the good guys, despite having what Harry is told are marginally superior numbers, the Order was leading a losing battle. More combat Wizards were needed on the front and there were almost twenty right here at Hogwarts.

In her research of old texts, Hermione had found references to an ancient self-defense system, left behind by the Founders. If he could find it, they could move the cells guarding Hogwarts back to the front lines, where they were desperately needed.

Examining the walls, he found the loose stone exactly where she'd said it would be. Prying it loose, he found a leather bound journal. The Hogwarts seal was stamped on the front cover. Sliding to the floor, he sat down for a read. There were a few loose pages tucked in the front, and Harry unfolded them.

_I am old now, and soon to die, but I still have to tell my story, OUR story. Godric has been gone many years, but I never want his sacrifice forgotten. He was my friend, my constant companion, and so much more. After he died, it just wasn't the same. The school wasn't the same, the mission wasn't the same. Everything is flat and lifeless without him. _

Even now, I can't really express what Godric was to me. My dearest friend? My oldest ally? No. Those are woefully inadequate. 

The school is safe. Kalika will guard it with her life. She has already saved us more than once.

I miss him. His death changed everything. The alliance between our houses, an alliance Godric and I forged with our passion, has already begun to fade. 

Harry stared at the pages in amazement. An alliance formed of passion, an alliance between houses. He got to his feet and headed out of the Chamber. He had to show Hermione.

A few minutes later, Hermione was reading the passage for herself. "Kalika. She who destroys. Definitely a creature of some kind."

"Yeah. So, who do you think? Helga or Rowena?"

"Neither." Hermione cleared her throat, an odd look on her face. "The alliance between our houses, an alliance Godric and I forged with our passion, has already begun to fade. I fear the time is nearly upon us when the Gryffindors and Slytherins are no longer brothers."

"Gry… Sly…" Harry had to sit down. "Hermione, don't joke like that."

She flipped the book over. There was a serpent embossed on the back cover. "Do try not to overreact, Harry. Consider the time period. Soldiers in arms were often lovers."

"But Gryffindors and Slytherins hate each other!"

"Apparently not always."  
-----  
"You look miffed, Potter."

"Don't start, Malfoy." Age hadn't tempered their animosity. Harry wasn't stupid. He knew Dumbledore had been begging for death and that Snape had only done as he was asked. Draco had been young and stupid then. A few years working with Snape as a double agent had fixed that. These days, thanks to a few carefully sworn oaths, Harry didn't doubt Draco's loyalty, but that didn't mean they had to like each other. Others had followed Draco over, but they didn't associate with Harry's cell. They didn't work together.

"There's no self defense system, is there?" There was more than a touch of exhaustion in Draco's voice, and Harry had to wonder how long he'd been on duty.

"I…" He hesitated. "I don't know yet." He set the journal down on the table. "We found this. It's Salazar Slytherin's journal."

"Really?" Draco opened the book before Harry could stop him. "What the…"

"I know, I know."

"Know what? The bloody thing is gibberish."

"Gibberish?" Harry took the book back. It was perfectly legible to him. "But… Hermione could read it."

"It's obviously been enchanted so only Gryffindors can read it. But that makes no sense."

"I fear the time is nearly upon us when the Gryffindors and Slytherins are no longer brothers."

"What?"

"That's what Salazar wrote." A suspicion began to form in Harry's mind. "If only a Gryffindor can read it, I'd bet only a Slytherin could find it."

"But you found it, Potter. You're not a Slytherin."

"Oh, but I almost was. If I hadn't hated you on sight, I would have been." There was also the small matter of all those bits of Voldemort floating around inside him, but he wasn't telling Draco that. "He was trying to foster inter-house cooperation."

"Why would he want to do that? Most of you Gryffindors are half breeds."

"I don't know." And that was the truth. After all, hadn't Salazar been fanatical about blood purity? Maybe they'd misinterpreted the word passion. After all, the book had been written in antiquity.  
-----  
_We fought often. I do believe someday stupidity will be synonymous with Gryffindor. He took the most outrageous chances, and he was often right for taking them, but that doesn't change the fact that today he lays in the cold ground rather than in my bed._

At the time, it seemed insanely dangerous to bring Kalika here. I thankfully managed to talk her out of killing us all, and now she is our most secret and effective weapon. What made him think of bringing her to us, I shall never know, but it was part of his brilliance.

If anyone is reading this, I suppose your biggest concern is Kalika. She is only to be used as a last resort. She is a double edged sword, one my descendants must wield with great care.

Kalika, as dear to me as my own children are, is not what now at that end I wish to think about. I still dream of him, all these years later. Dream of him when we were young and foolish, dream of him when we were not so young but perhaps still so foolish. I dream of him as he was the morning he left our bed and joined Durmstrang and Beaubaton, the day they all died.

It was a trap, but they must have known that. Durmstrang was my protégé, and no fool. Beaubaton was our headmaster, and no deception went unnoticed with him. When they died, their followers left us. It's all splintering, and I'm old enough, tired enough to let it.

Harry just sat there, staring at the yellowing paper. He didn't notice Ron joining him. "Is it that awful?"

"Do I look that bad?"

"Yes."

Harry traced the seal on the cover. "The Triwizard tournament. I found out why we do it. Godric and the others, they died to protect the school. Some of the students left after that, founded Durmastang and Beaubaton Academies. Salazar instituted the tournament to bring them home, if only once a year."

"But why?"

"He didn't want us to forget, but we did. We forgot, we let all their work go to waste."

"Waste? Harry, the school is still here. That's why we're here, fighting so hard to protect it."

"It wasn't supposed to be like this!" Harry spoke with the voice of one who's beliefs had been totally shattered. "Four houses, yes. But not divided. The bravery of Gryffindors, the cunning of the Slytherins, the intelligence the Ravenclaws, the loyalty of the Hufflepuffs. We were intended to compliment each other, not to be at odds."

"Harry, what are you talking about?"

"There was… an alliance between our house and the Slytherins. Salazar spoke of us as brothers."

"Brothers?" Ron couldn't believe it.  
-----  
_He lived through the horrors that thing did to him. Lived long enough to die in my arms. Long enough to see me unleash Kalika on the beast, see her kill it. To kiss me goodbye._

Then, he was just so still. I don't remember the next few days. Rowena explained it to me, but I didn't really understand it all. As young men, we'd become blood brothers, and since then we'd done things to strengthen our magic, things that apparently bonded us together and mingled our magicks. It very nearly drove me mad, and much of my power died with him. I can still feel him, sometimes, like a phantom limb. I am only half the man I was with him, for the simple reason that he took part of my soul with him when he died.

My ill health is probably the reason for the growing rift between the houses. The Slytherins cannot forgive the Gryffindors for Godric dying and leaving me this hollow shell. I can do nothing to seal it, because I too blame him for ruining me, no matter how much we loved each other.

In the end, I did what he asked of me the day we sealed Kali down here. I had children. But none of them have the gift. I fear the day will come when I am gone, and there will be a trouble that requires my dear girl's aid, and there will be no one to open the door.

I can feel every one of my years weighing me down. I can feel him calling to me. He is very close now, closer than he has ever been. He's waiting for me, and I want to go, so very badly. If you've gotten these pages, this book, then one of my descendants has finally shown the gift. You and the Slytherins are brothers, Gryffindor. You are Godric and I's true children. You must stand as brothers. That is why your house alone can read this book. Kali will obey any parseltounge of my house. Command her well. I go now. He's waiting for me, and I am so very tired of being alone.

Salazar Slytherin

He wasn't going to cry in front of Malfoy, damn it! As far as Malfoy knew, Harry was just sitting here reading. If he was quiet...

"Everything okay over there, Potter?" Draco was looking up curiously from the potion he'd been brewing.

"They loved each other so much." He couldn't keep the amazement out of his voice. "I can't imagine loving anyone that much."

"What are you blathering about, Potter?"

"It all makes sense now, the Slytherin obsession with purity. They needed a parseltounge, and they thought that was the best way to get one. How ironic, that the first born was half Muggle." There would be no easy save for the school. "Kalika, she who destroys. The school's secret weapon. A Basilisk."

There was a sudden crash. Draco had overturned the cauldron and its' sticky contents were spreading across the floor.

"Malfoy?"

"Bloody hell." He picked up a bottle and smashed it against the wall. "Damn it all!"

"Malfoy-"

"What they did to Snape… It's too horrible to say. We're going to lose, Potter. We're going to lose. There just aren't enough of us. The self defense system was our last chance to get the men we needed on the front lines. The line is going to break, and it'll be soon."

"It's not over." Harry picked his way over broken glass. "Tell me why there aren't enough of us. Are they lying to me? Does Voldemort have more men than we do?"

"No, but his people fight as a unit. Look at us! We can't even call each other by our first names! There are three cells guarding Hogwarts. We don't even speak. Do you even known the names of my men?" Harry shook his head and Draco just got angrier. "See? How can we fight together, if we can't even speak?"

"It doesn't have to be this way." Harry's eyes fell on the book. "A Slytherin's cunning and a Gryffindor's bravery. What could we do, you and I, if we managed to work together for once?"

"Are you serious?"

"Yes."

"If you and I worked together, really worked together? We could do just about anything."

"Then don't you think we should?"

Draco eyed him suspiciously. "Haven't we been here before?"

"I wish you could read the book. I didn't know. None of us knew, none of us remembered."

"Remembered what?"

"That a house divided cannot stand! That in the beginning, the houses were just that, houses. They were never supposed to mean anything. It has to be that way again, or you're right, we'll lose."

"Salazar really got to you, didn't he?"

"Mal- Draco. Please."

"You'll have to have someone read it to me, so I understand what you're prattling about."

There was a look of relief on Harry's face so sharp it was starling. "Anything." It would have to be Ginny. He was taking Ron and Hermoine with him to the front, and there was no one else he trusted.

"We've got a long night ahead of us."

"They're all long nights." He suddenly felt like laughing. "But we'll work on that."

Draco extended a hand, and this time, ten years later, almost to the day, Harry shook it.


End file.
